Improvement in water-wheels



,n s n HENRY wQisHIrALEIY, or 'PoRTLANu OREGON.

l l I l Letters Patent No. 71,335, dated November 26, 1867.

nvrryaoviinrmiirV 1N warns-WHEELS.

`T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CON CERN i .I

Be it known Vthat I, HENRr W. S11IPL}I-:Y,'0' Port-land, in the county of Multnomah, and State of Oregon," have invented -a new and useful Improvement in Water-Wheels; und I do herebydeclare the following to be it` full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part i of this specification, and in which- A Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of my invention. i l Figure 2 is a top View of the same, a portion of the enclosing case being removed.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the wheel detached from the casing. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several iigmjes.A

The main-feature of this inventionconsists in constructing thewheel and buckets in sucha manner `that l the water is held as far as possible from the axisduring the wheels revolution, so as to obtain its vgreatest power. `The buckets are made exceedingly shallow, and their'capacity is preserved by widening them and increasing the depth of the wheel. `'Ihere `,are `several rows of buckets on4 the wheel, and, in connection` with them, a new system of gates isv employed.

The` objectief thus constructing a wheel is tofntilize, 'to its fullest extent, the'power of the waterdu'ring di l dry-seasons, and :inl places where but a small volume of water can be had. The same quantityand head of water, acting on buckets at a distance of seven or eight feet from the axis, will exert double the propelling .powerthat it would if the buckets were only two or three feet fromV the axis. Where thetbuckets are made deep,`re`aching towards the centre of thewheel, there is always a great loss of power in this manner. In anyform of conthis respect, working more efficiently with a small stream than any other wheel hitherto in use.

structionv'where the wheel has a narrow rim and only `oneseres of buckets, such loss of power mustinevitably occur. A thorough' practical trial of my machine has shown that it is admirably adapted to utilize power in The wheel is constructed to run on a` verticalshaft, A, within a circular casing or box,ta aa a'. of the wheel, from the line :c to the line it', is made very wide, and is provided-with three rows of shallow buckets,

the central row D D receiving the water from the periphery of the box a a, and discharging it through openings o o into the space at the centre of thew'heel, whence it escapes at the bottom, the upper row E receiving the y water in the same manner, and discharging it at the openings u u along the line fr, whence it iiows over thetop` l of the rim and falls into the central space with the other water, escaping atthe bottom, and the lower` row E receiving the water in the same manner, and discharging it directly into the waste-way through theopenings u u', along the line az.

'11 The shape and construction of all the buckets are clearly shown in fig. 3. 'The central row is enclosed, n between two projecting rings, r r, the side rows lying between the rings and the upper and lower 'edges of the` f f ,rim, respectively The central row is constructed oit' a series of double-curvedplates, al d, their cuter ends i y being liush with the outer surface of the rings, and their inner ends projecting to some distance inside of the rim, as shown at d. The side buckets are composed of a single-curved plate, e, extending from theV ring out towards the edge of the rim of the wheel, and thence curving backward along` the edge of the rimitill they come opposite the centre of the curve of the next bucket, where they terminate, leaving the spacesuu, between their. rear end and the convex surface o f the curved bucket, behind them, for the water-to escape through, as above l described.r The side buckets are made exceedingly shallow, and are quite narrow, being, in the working wheels which I have. been using, only one and a quarter inch in width in a wheel of`fteen inches diameter. l Their depth is greatly exaggerated in the drawings, for'the purpose of clearncss. The bottoinlof the side buckets may bc of any form: curved, asshown in the drawings, or plane-preferably the latter.

Such .being'the construction of my wheel, it is enclosed withinrthedcase a a a, as shown, and the ,water-is let` uponit through a series of openings, M M, around the periphery ofj the case, and directed uponthe bucketsv E E by means of curved guides F F. The openings M M are between the inner ends of these guides. Gates II H,.provided with arms i1?, and pivotcd at n n, are attached in oonncctionwith every guide, being pivoted near the outer en'd oftthc guide, and extending inward towards thc openings M M'. These gates, when open, lie closely againstthe guides, being shaped to fit their surface, and offer no obstruction to Ythe inward iow of` thevWater to the openings MM. When closed, the outer edge of the gatc'is held by its pivot against thcouter edge of tlic guide near it, and its inner end is thrown against the inner end of the next adjacent guide, so that the gate entends entirely across the space between the guides, completely closing the passage. This position is clearly shown at h, fig. 2. The gates are opened and closed by aJ hund-wheel,g,'a. ratchet upon which operates a meksegment on a. ring, G, that extends entirely sround the top of the case, partially revolving the ring. From dierent points along the ring, connecting-rods ff extend to the arms z z', to the ends of' which they are jointed. When the ring G is moved in one direction, it draws upon'the connecting-rods and opens the gates, and when moved in the opposite direction, it pushes upon the rods and closes them.

The passages M M are not Wide enough to admit the water to the whole width of the outer buckets E E at once, but only to their inner edges, as shown in iig. 1. The water is delivered to the whole width ci' the central buckets D. er In connection with these't'eetures of my invention, l use u. set of radia'lnrms, B B Z1J fashioned into buckets, as shown in the drawings. The Wetter that Hows over the top of the rim, from the upper row of buckets, falls upon these radial buckets, and assists to 'move the wheel.

Annuler guide-plates' may be attached to the inner Well of' the rim of the wheel, on each side of the projecting; ends d d of the central buckets, in order to confine the water te the buckets, and' cause it to exert its force upon them till it is iinally discharged from them at their inner extremities. .The water-passages, from the outer to the inner ends of the guides, diminish slightly in height for the purpose ci' directing the current in c.V

better manner upon the buckets.

Having thus described.- my invention, what I claim es new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv

1. YThe combinziton of the parts l) E E', when constructed and arranged in relation to each other as shown :md described. v

2. n combination with the loregcing, the arms or buckets B, constructed und arrange-2l as described.

3- The getesH, hinged at the enter extremities of the guides F, and adapted to close inwardly, and pro vided with crm e', in combination with the links f and ring G, when constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purpose specified.

4. In combination with the inwardly-closing gates H and guides F F, the water-passages between the latter, when constructed so as to diminish in height from their outer to their inner ends, substantially us und for the purpose s, eciied.

P n. W. snrrLnY.

Witnesses:

C. M. CARTER, M. H. CARTER. 

